


I Love You (And Other Smirks)

by SilverShortyyy



Category: Ocean’s (Movies), Ocean’s 8 (2018), Ocean’s Eight (2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 22:04:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14963030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverShortyyy/pseuds/SilverShortyyy
Summary: Debbie has had quite the number of boyfriends, and while they all have a fair share of being able to make her smile, they always manage to miss the smallest things.Well, maybe Lou just knows Debbie so well or maybe it’s something else entirely, but Lou resolves to do that bit instead, for the sake of seeing Debbie smile that way that reaches her eyes.OR Five Times Lou Made Debbie Happy In The Way The Boyfriend Seems To Never Get And The One Time She Let Debbie Take The Wheel





	I Love You (And Other Smirks)

**Author's Note:**

> _“I’ve never fell in love_   
>  _I saved those feelings for you..._   
>  _It’s me and you”_
> 
> 8TEEN by Khalid

“What is this?” Debbie asks. She sets her bag down on Lou’s couch, with her eyes questioning but with a gleam of the smile on her lips. She stares at Lou incredulously; Lou smirks while sliding an omelette out of the pan and onto a plate.

“This? Dinner!” Lou turns back and sets the pan on the stove, walking over to the other side of the table and leaning forward with her hands on the edge. “Can’t I surprise my partner every now and then?”

Debbie just laughs, and Lou does too. Debbie makes her way to her side of the table, and she watches Lou light the candles at either side of the table.

There’s an omelette on either plate and the smell of roast chicken comes from, Debbie bets, the oven. There’s wine in both their glasses, and actual table cloth on the dinner table. The plates and silverware are a surprise in and of itself; she and Lou barely eat anything that isn’t takeout.

She opens her mouth to say something, but ends up laughing anyway when Lou raises an eyebrow and smirks.

“Aren’t you going to at least sit down?” Lou teases, laughter in her voice and twinkle in her silver eyes.

“Alright, I am, I am.” Debbie pulls out her chair and sits down, Lou mirroring her movements.

When she looks at Lou, there’s a teasing gaze there, and Debbie just laughs, because Lou is exactly the type to do this, but Debbie never expected it either way.

The omelette is divine, and the roast chicken is unbelievably delectable. Lou knows how to cook? Debbie wonders how that was a secret for these past few years when it’s just unthinkable for cooking to turn into something unmentioned for two people as close as they are.

Debbie takes a sip of the wine, and wonders where Lou got all of it. Stolen or not.

Hell, where did Lou even get the idea?

“What made you just suddenly cook dinner for me?” Debbie asks, and Lou nods that characteristic way, cocky and proud but _Lou_ , with a mischief barely concealed and a grin not even suppressed.

“Like I said,” Lou lifts her eyes from her plate and meets Debbie’s eyes. “Can’t I surprise you every now and then?”

Debbie raises an eyebrow and gives in, because Lou won’t give her an answer if Lou doesn’t want to. Debbie thinks she should push, but maybe Lou being mysterious is more fun, more interesting, and with them, life _needs_ to be everything and interesting.

Debbie raises her glass, and Lou cheers to her.

“You know, when we settle down, we should consider having a house with a mill by an ocean.”

Debbie almost spits her drink, trying not to choke on her laughter.

Lou’s laugh is rich and full, unbridled and not held back at all.

“What? A mill by the ocean!” Lou laughs, and Debbie doesn’t know if it was the wine or just Lou being Lou.

* * *

Lou had noticed Debbie huffing every night before then, and Lou realized what was wrong before Debbie started getting used to it.

Men aren’t so competent, Lou thinks. So she decides to take that bit of the job up herself.

Lou isn’t a Masterchef, but she can damn ass make a decent meal. Plus, she has nice candles.

* * *

Debbie almost gets suspicious when she sees the edge of a yellow piece of paper sticking out from somewhere near the bottom of her bag. She doesn’t remember putting anything like that in there. But she feels a hint of excitement anyway, and admittedly slight disappointment when she pulls it out to reveal, not a romantic note from her current boyfriend, but a note in Lou’s handwriting.

‘ _4:20 pm_ ’

Debbie’s face breaks into a quickly suppressed smile. What is this? But obviously, Lou picks that time because it’s funny.

Debbie likes the humor. She pockets the note and wonders what could possibly be waiting for her at 4:20 pm.

She thinks something might just pop up at her face. Maybe her boyfriend might even surprise her, somehow contacting Lou for help. She’ll be going on a date tonight with him anyway; maybe he’s going to surprise her and take her out earlier than he intended.

Debbie smiles at the thought, but feels a vibration in her pocket instead at 4:20 pm.

It’s a voice message from Lou.

“Heya, honey! Happy birthday! Hope your date doesn’t con you tonight. That’s my job.” Debbie can almost see the smirk on Lou’s lips as she records the message, and Lou laughs deeply, a voice like silk and velvet. “Snatched something for you tonight. Pick it up from a jewel store on ninth.” Debbie’s eyebrow rose. What is this? She smiles anyway, because it’s Lou, and it’s Lou’s voice. “Really hope you like it, hon. Hope he likes it too, and shows it.” Debbie hears a gulp, then Lou’s voice softens enough for her to hear, and Debbie thinks she probably is the only one who’d notice it. “Have fun tonight, Deb.”

There’s a smile and a tease and a smirk in Lou’s voice at the end of the voice message, and Debbie doesn’t need to think too far to hear the unsaid words Lou leaves out of the voice message.

‘ _Use protection._ ’ Plus a smirk and a wink.

Debbie smiles.

Debbie goes to the jewel store on ninth to find not only a necklace, but a _dress_ left for her by Lou. It’s a beautiful dress, and it fits Debbie perfectly. The dress in itself is already perfection, but then there’s the necklace.

Debbie wonders if this is too much, but Lou would disagree. Lou would grasp her shoulders and squeeze, and smile at Debbie in the mirror.

That night, Debbie goes to her date in Lou’s chosen dress and necklace, and her own chosen pumps.

The dress is a dark red, and the necklace is an ever darker red. He tells her she looks beautiful, and when he does, she imagines Lou slapping her ass and joking around with her, pulling her closer at the waist and husking into her ear. They’d laugh after.

Debbie wouldn’t see the soft look Lou gives her while they laugh, almost to tears.

* * *

Lou had noticed Debbie looking for things in the weirdest places. Or maybe Lou imagined it? Either way, Lou noticed that the man was quite traditional, not really leaving anything more for Debbie outside the bounds of their real life dates.

So, Lou thinks, why not? She’ll do this now.

If he can’t do it, then she will. It’s all worth it to make Debbie smile.

And Lou doesn’t need to see to know Debbie will smile.

* * *

The new boyfriend is in a band. A barista in a band. Not the vocalist, but the bassist.

Debbie likes him a lot. He’s not too curious about her, settles with what she gives and gives her just as much. The sex is good too; he never comes before she does, and he’s kind enough to want to learn how to please her before demanding her to please him. But he isn’t so kind that he couldn’t smack her ass.

No, he’s a pretty decent one.

But as much as the thought of him, or his face, makes her smile, she still thinks something’s missing.

She doesn’t know what she feels is missing until she finds Lou deep in concentration one day.

“Whatcha doin’?” Debbie asks, but when Lou looks at her, there’s a smirk and bit of surprise but, ultimately, Lou pushes her back out through the door and shields the room off. “And why aren’t you letting me see?

“Don’t tell me you’re cheating on me.”

“Oh honey, why would I cheat on you?” Lou says, getting a little closer to Debbie, and if it’s anyone else it would be a little too close, but it’s Lou and Debbie and there’s no such thing as a little too close when it comes to them.

“So, what _are_ you doing?”

“A little something for my favorite girl.” Lou closes the door behind her and taps Debbie on the nose before walking off to the staircase. Debbie follows, smiling.

“Which is?”

Lou turns around and leans on the bannister. Debbie stops on the step where Lou stands and leans on the bannister opposite Lou.

“Nothing really. Just a mixtape.”

Debbie’s jaw drops open, and at the sight of it, Lou smirks and winks. Debbie slaps Lou’s arm, and Lou laughs.

“Wha—?”

“I thought about doing it and who else is there I should do it for?” Lou says, a smile in her eyes and a grin on her lips. “Unless you want me to cheat on you and send it off to some chick in Australia.”

Debbie raises an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips.

“You’re _my_ partner, not some chick in Australia.”

“And _that_ is why the mixtape is for you.”

Debbie lets herself smile. She scoffs, then falls into step with her arm across Lou’s shoulder while Lou’s arm rests around her waist.

When she gets the mixtape, Debbie can’t help but sing along, whether or not any of her boyfriend’s songs got into the mixtape.

* * *

Lou likes the easy way this guy makes Debbie smile. It’s a lot less like the other guys, which was a ton of effort before they finally fit with Debbie.

Still, Lou started to wonder when he’ll finally send Debbie home with a song, or a tape, or _something_ so when he doesn’t, Lou brings it upon herself to do it instead.

A few hints here and there; Lou wonders if the hints are still jokes or not.

But, Lou thinks, maybe she doesn’t mind that the line between jokes and reality are getting blurred for her.

She likes making Debbie smile, and she likes seeing Debbie smile.

Maybe what it means doesn’t matter yet.

* * *

Debbie’s new boyfriend takes her to a new movie almost every week, and sometimes even takes her to movie sets. He’s a breath of fresh air, because while he treats anything related to movies with reverence, he doesn’t mind stealing the newest camera from a high end tech store.

He never asks her to come with him to his small heists though. He doesn’t even tell Debbie. But Debbie’s fine with that.

She only heists with Lou.

Thing is, her new boyfriend is into film, but not so much books. And Debbie likes books a lot. Not quite love, because she isn’t exactly the type who can read seventeen books in a row, in about a month, but she likes reading. Debbie also likes reading novels before watching the movie they’re based on, so when her new boyfriend starts talking about a new book-based movie to be premiered in a few weeks, she hunts down the book before watching the movie.

Once, though, she’d actually gone a whole two weeks without finding it.

“I mean, how hard is it to find?” Debbie tells Lou one night, deep into Chinese takeout. “It’s a damn book! Not even the fucking library has it!” Debbie looks at Lou, and despite Lou’s amused look, continues. “The legal _or_ the illegal one. I checked the black market thrice already!”

“Well,” Lou says, smirk and mischief in place. “I’m sure it’s somewhere in the world. It’ll find you somehow.” Lou winks at her, and Debbie just huffs, settling deeper into the sofa. “Come on, honey. Don’t worry, you’ll get it before the movie releases.”

Two days later, when Debbie wakes up, Lou’s in her bedroom balancing a book on her head.

On other people their age, it would look ridiculous. Of course, on Lou, she still looks as intimidating as she always is.

Lou smirks down at Debbie’s waking form, and Debbie smiles with half-open, sleepy eyes.

“What the fuck are you doing in my room?”

“Just came to deliver something.” Lou slips the book of her head and throws it at Debbie. Debbie catches it, and the title on the cover shakes her completely awake.

“How—?”

“I’ll explain while we eat. Come on, before your coffee gets cold.”

Debbie rolls her eyes, and Lou marches out of her bedroom while Debbie walks to the bathroom.

Debbie doesn’t see the gaze Lou throws her way before closing the door.

* * *

Lou is slightly disappointed in the new boyfriend for not being observant. He’s a lot more suitable to Debbie, so Lou settles.

But, if he can’t notice something as basic as Debbie’s irritation at not being able to find a book that a movie he’ll watch with her soon is based on, then Lou thinks, once again, she’ll have to step in.

Lou has stopped settling for the mental image of seeing Debbie smile at the enactment of Lou’s little plans.

So, now, Lou decides to visit Debbie in the morning instead of dropping it off.

Besides, Debbie first thing in the morning is quite the endearing sight, and Lou’s quite proud of the fact that she didn’t bite down her lip while Debbie was looking.

* * *

This boyfriend is more like a booty call than anything, but Debbie doesn’t mind.

He’s sweet enough, but he thinks about sex way too much to give her any surprise that doesn’t end with him inside of her. She doesn’t mind.

These days, Debbie notices she’s a little too horny than what would be good for her anyway.

Usually, though, she doesn’t spend the night. They just don’t work like that; he fits into the part of Debbie that isn’t soft and plushy like kid’s slime, but with the part that would ride the night until the dawn comes and breaks the spell, and the part that would find shadows between buildings to do naughty things just out of spite.

So when she comes home, it’s usually late at night or early in the morning, and of course she lets herself doze off instead of having to set up a bath for herself.

Especially since he leaves her sore. Very sore.

When she opens the door to Lou smirking at her and checking her out, of course she questions the entire sight all the while smiling because oh God, what is Lou planning this time?

“You got a bath running.”

Lou says, eyes not breaking away from Debbie even after Debbie looks away multiple times. Shrug off the boots, throw off the coat.

When Debbie walks by Lou, she messes Lou’s hair up, and Lou just laughs.

“Take care not to drown, honey. Or sleep.”

“Alright.” Debbie says with a yawn.

Of course she falls asleep in the bath, but she’s vaguely aware when Lou carries her out and dries her, sliding a robe onto her before tucking her in her bed.

Debbie doesn’t see the soft look in Lou’s eyes as she does it, nor does she feel the kiss Lou sets on her forehead before Lou leaves, nor does she hear Lou’s whispered words at just a couple of hours short of dawn.

“Love you, honey.”

Lou doesn’t get jealous of the new boyfriend for sleeping with Debbie almost every night. She’s happy, though, because Debbie has him to satisfy her needs, and he makes Debbie smile in his own way.

Lou is also happy because she knows she’s the only one who can make Debbie happy in this specific way.

* * *

Lou only has to take a wild guess that wild sex means not showering at all when Debbie gets home.

So Lou goes off and gets a bath ready for Debbie, everything just an intuitive calculation, nothing actual planning because she sets off as soon as the idea pops in, does everything without any actual outline to follow other than what her gut tells her.

Lou senses it, too, more than anything, when Debbie falls asleep in the bath. Lou doesn’t wake her up, because Debbie is definitely tired, so Lou carries her to bed instead.

Lou won’t deny it anymore. What use is denial?

She loves Debbie Ocean.

And for as long as Debbie’s happy, Lou’s happy too.

* * *

Debbie smiles when she sees Lou from across the sidewalk, in a glittering green pantsuit with a cocky grin only for Debbie.

But, when Debbie smiles, everything’s different.

Her heartbeat is suddenly there, and she feels every sensation on her skin, is aware of the distance closing in between her and Lou, and the smile in Lou’s eyes and on those lips and—

Lou is suddenly the Lou from all those years ago, surprising her with dinner and a dress and a mixtape and a book and a warm bath. Lou is the Lou who had carried her to bed, and Debbie can see it happening in a whole different way now, and Debbie lets herself smile the closer Lou gets.

Lou smirks, Lou always smirks. But there’s a knowing look there.

Debbie remembers how her relationships had failed. How she had fallen in love for the first time and ended up getting conned into jail. Remembers falling out with Lou, and the world losing color without her noticing. Debbie remembers the world turning to gray but she never notices, because how was she going to notice when she didn’t even actually know who was in front of her.

Who _is_ in front of her.

“Well, honey? You have your diamonds now.” Lou says, and there’s a softness in those eyes that Debbie is now sure have appeared a thousand times before now, a thousand lives before and Debbie can see tomorrow clearer than anything ever before.

For once, Debbie doesn’t feel like she has to steal anything to prove herself to be enough.

Because even if Debbie’s bedridden and practically useless, Lou wouldn’t ask her for anything else.

“I do.” Debbie says, and for once, it’s her planning how the surprise will go, and Lou lets her.

Their hands intertwine with ease, and the world becomes a whole undiscovered universe, adventures left and right waiting to be uncovered.

Debbie would have it no other way.

Lou kisses her in the shadows by an alley, soft and gentle and promising, promising days and nights and years ahead, so there’s no need to rush, no need for everything to be right now.

“I’ll be waiting, Jailbird.”

Debbie laughs, and everything finally fits.

**Author's Note:**

> _“I don’t want to hear sad songs anymore_   
>  _I only want to hear love songs_   
>  _I found my heart up in this place tonight_   
>  _Don’t want to sing mad songs anymore_   
>  _Only want to sing your song_   
>  _‘Cause your song’s got me feeling like I’m_
> 
> _I’m in love”_
> 
> Your Song by Rita Ora


End file.
